Building a MacPro, Yes, a MacPro not a Hackintosh Options

[digitalperformer]

Would it be possible to copy the MP EFI with external hardware (or even software) and rewrite to another X86 motherboard that is EFI capable? Has anyone come across a researcher in this field?

[radov4n]

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I couldn't find it.. where would you get a Mac Pro motherboard? I tried googling it up over and over, but I can't find.. is it even possible?

I would certainly be interested in building my own Mac Pro.. I am already wiring my hackintosh into the G5 case atm

[newtech]

The SMC and EFI firmware a very hardware specific. My best guess is the MP 1,1 or 2,1 firmware *might* work on an intel 5000XVN board as that is the board MP is based on. Though I'd suspect a few patches would have to be made to accpet the non-Apple ID_strings embedded in the board. Even then I forsee it would be much the same as the developer boards that Nagal and I have used.

Sorry if this has been covered before, but I couldn't find it.. where would you get a Mac Pro motherboard? I tried googling it up over and over, but I can't find.. is it even possible? I would certainly be interested in building my own Mac Pro.. I am already wiring my hackintosh into the G5 case atm

Nagal and I both got developer boards from Mac-Pro for $487.50, best to steer clear as firmware wont update. ApplePalace sells service part boards for >$800.00. I found a Board on eBay a while back that I picked up for $250.00

[nagal]

Hey Hey Eyerybody!

Thanks to Nagal & NewTech for the invite! Turns out I don't have a Mac Pro 2,1... I was hoping one of the newer models I acquired would be one. Personally I'm doubtful that they will work. What I've read about other server boards running the Harpertown is that the chipsets support it, but they need a BIOS Flash, Personally I'm not expecting Apple to toss that into the next EFI update.

Brings a question to mind... Would we be able to snag the EFI from the Mac Pro 3,1 and flash a Mac Pro 1,1 or 2,1 for that oh so coveted support?

As far as for those of you who have asked what happened when I installed the e5420's in the 1,1 system: Nothing, nothing at all. the drives did spin up, no "Chuuuummm" or anything. I'm struggling to remember, but I believe the bright red CPU error lights also came on.

One questions I have for ya'll: Anyone here skilled at supercooling LGA771 sockets? I'm sitting on a pair of 2.66GHz Intel ES Clovertown chips that WILL Overclock to 3.3GHz! When overclocked, PowerFractal clocked in at 94 GigaFlops! The only problem is it takes a bit of cooling to keep the system stable, i.e. frosty heatsinks. I emptied an entire can of dust off (Upside down of course) and completely froze the CPUs, (Used the Dynatron H53G Pure copper heatsink). I had about 5 minutes of pure bliss before the thaw. I'd love to hear any suggestions, room temperature it seems is just not going to cut it. I put a pair of ultras high speed fans on the H53Gs, (and obviously tried the stock MP Heatsinks with serious airflow).
-J
Oh, and just for kicks I've included this link
http://www.hackaday.com/2008/02/11/window-...c-water-cooler/

Welcome aboard!

As far as your cooling goes those Dynatron are not the best heat sinks out there. I tried some in mine board and was highly disappointed and they are now sitting in a box in my closet. The Thermalright HR-01 X gave me a 15C drop easily compare to the pure coppers. I did not have fans on the coppers I used but I do not have fans on my Thermalrights either, just the 2 front fans in the Mac Pro case. This is where I got my HR-01X and be warned they are huge! http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/thhrforinxe5.html

As for water cooling. I still want to do it but its all about money and time now. There are other things I want to spend the money on and I want to spend the time using my computer for a change

I doubt the 3,1 EFI would work at all on the older boards as the 3,1 uses the 5400X chipset. As for the 54xx working in a 2,1, if anyone has a pair and is in Southern California, I'd be more than will to meet up and we can swap them into my computer to see what happens. Other than that, we have to wait for digitalperformer to report back.

On the CPU heat sink sensor front, still nothing. The diode's I got are surface mount and I am afraid my sloppy soldiering skills fried the diode when I tried attaching it to a cable. I might try to hunt down some diodes in TO-92 package and give those a try.

[newtech]

The SMC and its firmware has to recognise the 54xx processor just to power up and do POST's, before gettting to the point where EFI firmware does its thing. The SMC is active all the time the machine is plugged in, even when powered off. The SMC literally activates the mains for the PSU and sends the CPU's their start-up power and reset vector.

[Listed1st.com]

Awesome! I just ordered a pair of those heatsinks, cross my fingers, I hope they'll do well enough to get me a 3.3GHz MP. If my system will run at 3.3GHz, I'll buying Nagal a box of Snickers!

Also I saw on the site the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1, If you're like me you enjoy a silent system, and that fan on the x1900XT is like a jet engine! I've been using the S1 for about 6 months and LOVE IT! I did get the turbo cooler kit, totally silent, makes a huge difference.



Any ideas on how I could make unstable chips stable? 4 pair of 2.4GHz CPUs will not overclock to 3.0GHz, I get the power button of death if I hit 100% CPU load.

Also wanted to let y'all know the best place for memory is omnitechnologies.biz Love them. Fast, professional shipping, the EASIEST RMA process I've ever had. Excellent ram. Amazing price. They have 2GB FB Dimms for $99 each, I'll contact them early next week to see if I can persuade them to give a discount to forum members, I think they might go for it!

I've already bought 64GB of FB-DIMMS from them.

I also have a guy who buys up the 1U and 2U heatsinks. He pays $25 a pop for the H53G or P0018, I found even on ebay they are tough to sell!

And now for my last thought of the night, what are your (speaking to all the readers here) favorite shared computing programs? SETA@HOME, Folding@HOME... Is there a team already established from the Hackintosh community I should join, or should we create our own and show the other teams the true power of the Hackintosh?

[newtech]

Bumping up the core voltage may increase stability for OC'ing those 2.4's. Easier to accomplish in windows using OC tools.
Out of curiousity what sSpec are those 2.4's?

sSpec ES 2.4's I have seen...

QQYK ( Nagal's, seem to be have max multiplier of 8 Rather than 9 ) Fam 6 mod 15 stp 4 [B0]

QQYH Fam 6 mod 15 stp 4 [B0]

QQNA Fam 6 mod 15 stp 5 [B1]

QUQI ( Mine, Very stable at 3.0 ) Fam 6 mod 15 stp 7 [B3]

QLGZ ( Mine, on backup board ) Fam 6 mod 15 stp 8 (?) [C0]

[Listed1st.com]

I have some QLXB and QUQI that won't overclock...

[gramarye]

Awesome! I just ordered a pair of those heatsinks, cross my fingers, I hope they'll do well enough to get me a 3.3GHz MP. If my system will run at 3.3GHz, I'll buying Nagal a box of Snickers!

Also I saw on the site the Arctic Cooling Accelero S1, If you're like me you enjoy a silent system, and that fan on the x1900XT is like a jet engine! I've been using the S1 for about 6 months and LOVE IT! I did get the turbo cooler kit, totally silent, makes a huge difference.



Any ideas on how I could make unstable chips stable? 4 pair of 2.4GHz CPUs will not overclock to 3.0GHz, I get the power button of death if I hit 100% CPU load.

Also wanted to let y'all know the best place for memory is omnitechnologies.biz Love them. Fast, professional shipping, the EASIEST RMA process I've ever had. Excellent ram. Amazing price. They have 2GB FB Dimms for $99 each, I'll contact them early next week to see if I can persuade them to give a discount to forum members, I think they might go for it!

I've already bought 64GB of FB-DIMMS from them.

I also have a guy who buys up the 1U and 2U heatsinks. He pays $25 a pop for the H53G or P0018, I found even on ebay they are tough to sell!

And now for my last thought of the night, what are your (speaking to all the readers here) favorite shared computing programs? SETA@HOME, Folding@HOME... Is there a team already established from the Hackintosh community I should join, or should we create our own and show the other teams the true power of the Hackintosh?

Have you considered Kingston RAM? These are 8gb (2 x 4gb) set of FB-DIMM modules going for $330. (That's $165 for each 4gb module) + a Lifetime Warranty
http://shop.kingston.com/partsinfo.asp?pro...R667D2Q8F5K2/8G


Just thought I'd share in case any of you guys are interested, since I believe, the Mac Pro Logic board (like most server boards or any 5400 chipset board) takes FB-DIMMS and I think, if i had a server board, I'd jump in on this, I have a feeling it won't be around for long. They sell those ram heatsinks (like apple ram) separately as well.

[nagal]

That is a good price for 4GB module! But you still really want to run multiples of 4 memory modules to take advantage of the quad channel memory buss.

On another note, I am happy to report CPU heat sink sensor success!

I stopped at my local Radio Shack and picked up two 2N3904 transistors in T0-92 package. I got home and cut the thermistor of the thermal sensors I bought before that did not work. I did this because the sensor had the 2 pin plug that mates with the jack on the logic board. I then soldered one of the wires to the base and collector of the 2N3904 and the other wire to the emitter (as shown SMSC doc newtech linked to). I plugged it in and nothing. On a hunch, I rebooted the computer. After it came back up, I launched Hardware Monitor and there it was, my sensor reading the same as the on board ambient air sensor! Its reading the same because I dont have the sensor attached to the heat sink, its just hanging around by the exhaust fan. I just need to figure out how to attached it to the actually heat sinks. I am thinking of just using some RVT.

The cost on this is about $10 for both of them I forgot where I got them but I got 2 thermal sensors like these http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/flatthersen.html for around $8 shipped and the 2N3904 from Radio Shack were $ .79 each.

Once I get both attached then I should be able to put the Apple OEM fans back in

[gramarye]

That is a good price for 4GB module! But you still really want to run multiples of 4 memory modules to take advantage of the quad channel memory buss.

Once I get both attached then I should be able to put the Apple OEM fans back in

Thanks for the tips about 4 memory modules for "quad channel bus" < never heard about that. Is this an apple exclusive thing? or for all motheraboads (including PCs)

And as for teh Apple OEM fans, are they superior than the Thermalrights?

[aqua-mac]

Nice Nagal, can you put a pic up when you get the sensors attached.

Regards.

[nagal]

The Quad Channel memory is not an Apple exclusive it is part of the 5000/5400 series chipsets. I do not know if the Apple fans are superior but the logic board has integrate fan speed control. For the fan controller to work you need to use PWM fans which the Apple fans are.

Yes, I will post up some pictures here shortly. As soon as I get some coffee in me I am going to finish making them.

[Naruto Uzumaki]

nagal im pretty interested in your awsome building of a mac pro but do you know how much it would cost me to build a macbook pro?

[nagal]

nagal im pretty interested in your awsome building of a mac pro but do you know how much it would cost me to build a macbook pro?

No idea really but I can easily bet it would cost more than actually buying a MacBook Pro. The only reason the Mac Pro builds work cheaper is the availability of getting the CPUs, memory, hard drives and optical drives for a good bit less or (as in the hard drives and optical drives for me) reusing existing ones.


On the sensor side, here are the pics. Looks like I fried one of the transistors when I was re-soldering the first sensor I made so there was not so much extra cabling. Oh well, I will dig 4 quarters out of my change cup and go get another one

Here is the wiring cut down to size. The little black dot thing above the first wire is one of the transistors for the sensor. If you think that is small, you should have seen the surface mounts ones I tried working with!



Sensors assembled



Close up of the sensors. My soldering job could win the worst soldering job award without question.



And one of the sensors attached. I decided to use electrical tape and then a strip of duct tape to hold it in place. I will go back and find a better solution but for now it works.



And a screen shot of Hardware Monitor. You can see CPU A Heatsink is reading 36 C MORE than CPU B Heatsink. To verify it was not reading correctly, I removed it from the heatsink to just read the air temp and there was no change. I fired the transistor for sure. The issue is my soldering iron is 40W so it is easy to do. Really need a 25W solder iron. I can see that once I ge



From this screen shot of Hardware Monitor you can see that getting the CPU B Heatsinks sensor working has the Fan CPU/Memory running at its minimum which means less noise. I believe once I remake the CPU A sensor, the other two fans will run at a lot lower speed.

[Listed1st.com]

Heya, we all know arctic silver is good stuff, grab some of the adhesive, most likely what's used at the factory.

http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/araltherad.html

[microsoft whiz]

wow is all i can say, really cool project

[Listed1st.com]

I've never purchased much from MacMall, I love refurbished items, they have serveral hard drives listed, I've heard the Hitachi's described as the "Deathstar" and I've been told Maxtor is to be avoided, what hard drives do you (collectively) prefer? Typically I've used Western Digital. Any preferances?

CODE

MacMall's Manufacturer Refurbished Outlet

[nagal]

I have always used Seagates and nothing else. I have only seen a hand full of hard drives die in the 15+ years I have been heavily involved in computers and most of them were Western Digitals.

[Listed1st.com]

I just learned something that I'd like to see if anyone else has been able to verify... Apparently the new Harpertown Mac Pros will not run Tiger, thus the problems with Protools users (Protools isn't quite Leopard Compatible yet). Wonder how this relates to the Harpertown in the old Logic boards, more changes than we thought?


Also: Tom's Hardware has just released a detailed CPU Cooler comparison, the ThermalRight is a heavy hitter:
http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/20/cpu...2008/page8.html